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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Opening This Week - March 4

Out In Wide Release:London Has Fallen

This is the follow up to 2013's "Olympus Has Fallen" in which North Korean leads a guerrilla assault on the White House. Here, after the death of the British Prime Minister, while the world's leaders are gathered together for the funeral, a plot to kill the whole lot in one disastrous event puts all the primary characters from the first film in harms way again. Nevertheless, this looks like just another generic action thriller featuring Gerard Butler, an actor who has yet to endear himself to critics as someone with the acting chops worthy of the top billing he continues to receive.

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Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Based on Kim Barker's memoir The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan follows Barker (Tina Fey) as she serves as a war correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and builds a relationship with Scottish correspondent Iain MacKelpie (Martin Freeman). So far the reviews have not been overly kind to this film. Part of the negative reception has to do with the fact that this is yet another film in which white actors portray other ethnicities during a time in which Hollywood has been continually called out for exactly that reason.

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Zootopia

Zootopia has already endeared itself to audiences with it's comically brilliant trailer including an extended scene at the DMV run by sloths that aired before "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in December. And so far the critical reception has been positive citing a clever script about inclusiveness that feels very timely, as well as state of the art animation, and enough fast paced fun to keep the younger members of the audience entertained. This might just be the movie to see this weekend.

About Me

I studied Cinema and Digital Video Production at Northwestern College, interned in LA for Double Feature Films, and currently work at a TV station in Cedar Rapids. I love movies, and I enjoy writing about them too!